Republicans join call for Rove to resign

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Both Republicans and Democrats have called for a radical
overhaul of the Bush Administration, increasing the pressure on the
US President to force Karl Rove, his closest political adviser, to
resign over the CIA leak affair.

After a week that left George Bush struggling to avoid lame-duck
status less than a year into his second term, one poll showed 46
per cent of Americans believed honesty and ethics had suffered
during his presidency.

The poll was taken at the weekend after Lewis Libby, a key White
House aide and Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was
indicted on serious criminal charges in the CIA leak affair and Mr
Bush, under pressure from his conservative supporters, withdrew his
nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court.

The withdrawal of the Miers nomination coincided with
confirmation from the Pentagon that 2000 US troops had been killed
in Iraq. This toll had already risen to 2022 yesterday after six US
soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks outside
the capital, Baghdad.

Mr Bush yesterday nominated a federal court judge, Samuel Alito,
to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The choice of
Judge Alito, whose ideological likeness to Justice Antonin Scalia
has earned him the nickname Scalito, is likely to mend a rift in
the Republican Party over the failed Miers nomination.

Harry Reid, the Democrat leader in the Senate, said Mr Bush and
Mr Cheney, should "come clean" about the outing of the CIA agent
Valerie Plame, the wife of the former ambassador Joe Wilson, a
severe critic of the Bush Administration's decision to go to war in
Iraq.

Senator Reid said Mr Bush and Mr Cheney had "a lot of explaining
to do" over why Libby and others in the Administration, including
Mr Rove, outed Ms Plame to journalists.

He said Mr Bush and Mr Cheney had praised Libby after he was
indicted and accepted his resignation with regret, but had said
nothing about Libby's alleged crimes or about the fact Mr Rove
remained under investigation by a special prosecutor, Patrick
Fitzgerald. "There has been no apology to the American people for
this obvious problem in the White House," Senator Reid said.
"President Bush needs to shake up his administration, and Karl Rove
should be let go. I think Karl Rove should step down."

Mr Rove remains under investigation by Mr Fitzgerald, although
most observers close to the case believe he will escape indictment.
Trent Lott, a former Republican Senate leader, said Mr Rove's
future as Mr Bush's closest political adviser was clouded and Mr
Rove should "step up if he has a problem and acknowledge it and
deal with it".

Senator Lott said Mr Bush should consider bringing "new blood
and new energy" into the White House, people who were ready to work
on revitalising the flagging Administration.

"You should always be looking for new people in the
Administration," he said. "You've got to reach out and bring in
more advice and counsel. It's possible poor advice contributed to
the failed nomination of Harriet Miers."

Mr Bush returned to Washington after a weekend at Camp David and
immediately went to the Capitol Rotunda to lay a wreath for the
civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who is lying in honour as
thousands of people file past.

Ms Parks, who died last week aged 92, played a leading role in
igniting protests that led to US civil rights legislation in the
1960s.